Minnesota players end boycott, will play in the Holiday Bowl

For much of this week, players on the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team had boycotted all team activities over the expulsion and suspension of 10 players for their alleged involvement in a September gang rape of a woman off-campus. The team intended to continue this boycott until the players punishments were lifted, putting their appearance in the Holiday Bowl in serious jeopardy.

This morning, they announced they were ending their boycott and will, in fact, be playing in the Holiday Bowl against Washington State.

Prosecutors declined to file charges in the September case, but the university’s Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action committee found that it was “more than likely” that the alleged victim had been sexually assaulted in the case. That report resulted in the punishment levied against the players earlier this week.

There had been a 12 p.m. CT deadline for the school or team to make a decision on the bowl game today. If they had decided to forego traveling to San Diego, the Holiday Bowl would’ve likely gone to the Northern Illinois Huskies as the Cougs opponent, as they are the highest APR team remaining at 5-7.

The Holiday Bowl is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. PT on Dec. 27th on ESPN.